Andy Stanley, senior pastor of North Point Community Church in Atlanta church spoke several times at the Catalyst Conference this year.
HIs first session he spoke out of Nehemiah 5:6-18 on the importance of a leader having “moral authority”.
“Moral authority is what we get when people percieve that there is agreement between our creed and our deed”, said Andy. “Most of our leadership comes from this.” It’s easy to
Here are a few other key thoughts from this talk:
– “All the leadership tricks in the world won’t compensate for a lack of moral authority.”
– “Everyone [including paid staff] at the end of the day is basically a volunteer – they can leave at any time.”
– It is important not only to have alignment between words and deeds, but “public alignment”. People need to see the alignment of your walk and your talk.
He emphasized integrity and modeling in three specific areas:
1. Forgiveness
– Forgiveness is at the epicenter of the gospel. We must not carry bitterness and offense, but instead lead the way in forgiveness.
2. Family
– “If your wife feels like the church is your mistress, you are part of the problem.”
– “Prioritize the role that no one else can play over the role that someone else can plan”.
3. Finances
– “Give. Save. Live on the rest.”
Do you have moral authority with the people you lead or merely positional authority? In what areas do you think that your moral authority has been waning? What are you going to do about it?